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I'm Damaris. I have a soulmate, three kids, two citizenships, one full time job. I don't have a lot of time, a perfectly clean house, or a stylish wardrobe. Around here we tend to focus on the positive, so please ignore the mess, the sporadic posting, and all the little imperfections. We just take it one day at a time. One kiss at a time. One idea at a time. This blog is a glimpse of my heart, of what I love and cherish most. It just so happens that most of it revolves around the greatest thing on earth; food!

posted on: Thursday, September 3, 2009

The picture isn't great (neither is the presentation) but I guarantee that the cake is good. 'Tis the season for zucchini and I was stoked when I read this post. The original recipe can be found here.

I used round pans and made a double layer cake with whip cream in the middle and rich chocolate ganache as icing.

Confession: I hate making cakes. I want them to look beautiful and I want beautiful cake stands to hold them up. You know like the colorful vintage ones...ohhh lala. I can't get myself to invest in beautiful cake stands because my cakes never turn out beautiful. If you have any tips on how to make pretty cakes please let me know I'm in need of inspiration for my next cake project.

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comments:

That is crazy. I SERIOUSLY have been planning on making a chocolate zuchinni cake for 2 weeks now. I've even bought several zuchinnis specifically for this cake, and then end up using the it for something else even though I only want to make cake.

ya know Damaris... I like your cakes because they look REAL! I try to make fancy cakes too but in real life...cakes look like that. I think its artisticly pleasing to look at because of the fact that its not perfectly round. And what really matters is how it taste!

I just cover mine in sprinkles... kinda like duct tape? or coconut, or nuts if it's not a kids birthday cake! I've always wanted to try fondent, but it just doesn't taste as good as icing... I can't make pretty cakes either.. oh well. Chocolate Zucchini Cake must be a trend right now! I have seen it on at least 3-4 blogs lately! Love the trendy food world! Looks yummy!

1. Once you've smeared frosting on your cake, wipe your icing spreader / spatula on a cloth soaked in hot water, and use the how spatula to smooth out the frosting.2. It is easiest to frost a round cake when you have a professional cake stand that spins.3. If you don't have one of those, try a lazy susan!4. Alternatively, run with the rustic theme and go overboard with the spatula marks, then put a line of sprinkles or chopped nuts around the top edge.4. For beautiful cake stands (this is a DIY wedding tip I picked up), buy glass ice cream dishes & cut glass plates at Goodwill. Turn the glasses upside down and glue the plate to the glass!

(That's how I made these: http://www.flickr.com/photos/boblatorre/3786038645/in/set-72157621914450092/)

PPS- I meant "hot" spatula above. Another tip I learned is also to take a long serrated knife and slice off the rounded top of each layer of the cake so they will sit flat against each other when you stack them.

Your frosting looks good.The dipples in the middle kind of make me think it may not have been cooked all the way through. But if that was not the problem here are some other tips.

1. trim it. all professionals do this to their cakes to get it into a good shape. Use a large serrated knife.

2. Use a crumb layer and then refrigerate it. A crumb layer is a layer of icing, usually a simple one, that you smear on to get a smooth shape after trimming, so that they crumbs don't get all mixed up in to the real icing layer. Use a offset spatula

3. Strips of parchment around the bottom to keep the icing off of the stand and keep edges crisp.

4. You don't have to over do the sprinkles. Often one can get the top nice and clean but it is trickier to do the sides. So press coconut, sliced almonds, or other crushed nuts (or whatever else you can imagine) into the side with your hands.

5. Good cakes pans that distribute heat evenly make a big difference.

I mad this cake just the other day for my birthday but I was too lazy to frost it. So we just squared it up and piped a huge dollup of whip cream on the top. It is a really nice cake.

Now that's a perfect way to get your dose of zucchini! I was craving for your blackberry frozen yogurt and just had to see this one as well. I know you want your cakes to look really beautiful, but this one's pretty charming and it's like its inviting one to come over and eat tons and tons of cake! =)